ChatGPT vs. Claude: Which AI subscription is the most generous? A study has reached a verdict

OpenAI used its developer conference to cut the capabilities of ChatGPT Pro, its $200-per-month subscription, in half. Starting October 30, its usage limits will drop from twenty times those of the Plus plan to ten times, and the weekly quota of messages for the GPT-6 Pro model from 200 to 100.At the same time, a study by SemiAnalysis concludes that subscriptions to Claude, its main rival, provide much more for the same amount.

A credit to make the pill go down, a higher Ultrafast tier

Subscribers will keep their current rate, but not their comfort level. In addition to halving usage limits, OpenAI is easing the transition with a $2,500 credit, enough to cushion the change for the largest consumers. The company had already suspended sales of this plan in September because its servers could no longer keep up with demand.

To regain generous limits, you will have to aim higher: a new tier at €500 per month highlights faster responses. As early as late September, rates for GPT-6 models billed to developers had been halved.

2.9 billion tokens versus one billion

SemiAnalysis used a simple method: measure what subscribers actually consume, then convert that consumption at API prices—the interfaces charged to developers. A Claude subscriber would consume up to 2.9 billion tokens per month, these units of text processed by the models, compared with around one billion for their ChatGPT counterpart. Based on the pricing tables, the difference would amount to a one-to-five ratio in favor of Anthropic’s offering.

The one-to-five ratio, however, owes a great deal to OpenAI’s recent price cuts.Cheaper API tokens mechanically erode the theoretical value attributed to ChatGPT, without the subscriber losing anything in the process. Other metrics actually reverse the ranking, such as the cost per completed task, estimated at $0.72 for GPT-6.1 Sol versus $5.98 for Claude Opus. In June, the same firm also ranked OpenAI’s offering at the top of its previous comparison.

The study also provides a figure for Anthropic: its subscriptions would account for 42 % of the computing power dedicated to operating its models, for approximately 10% of its revenue.

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Source: The Register